BATH (AP) — Bath Iron Works’ eighth Aegis guided missile destroyer, the Carney, will be launched Saturday afternoon.

The ship is named for Adm. Robert B. Carney, a highly decorated World War II veteran, a former director of Bath Iron Works, and a chief of Naval Operations under President Eisenhower. Carney died in 1990.

The principal speaker is John M. Deutch, the deputy secretary of defense. Others speakers include Rep. Olympia Snowe, Rep. Tom Andrews, Sen. William Cohen and Sen. George Mitchell.

The Carney will be the 217th Navy ship launched at BIW in its 110-year history, said company spokeswoman Susan Pierter.

Adm. Carney was decorated four times during World War II for his contributions to anti-submarine warfare. He earned his highest honor, the Navy Cross, in fighting at Lei Pe Gulf in the Philippines in 1944.

Carney served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1953 to 1955. He was succeeded by Adm. Arleigh Burke, whose tenure from 1955 to 1961 was one of the longest in Navy history. The class of destroyers to which the Carney belongs is named for Burke.

Adm. Carney served as chairman of the board of directors of Bath Iron Works for 10 years, beginning in 1955. In his first destroyer command, Adm. Carney served on the Bath-built USS Buchanan.

The ship’s sponsor, Betty Carney Taussig of Annapolis, Md., daughter of Carney, will christen the vessel at 2:17 p.m. Saturday.

The ship’s matron of honor is Parelee Carney Budd, Carney’s granddaughter. A resident of Stone Mountain, Ga., Budd is the daughter of the late Gen. Robert B. Carney Jr.

When the Carney is launched Saturday, it will be 66 percent complete. It begins sea trials in the summer of 1995. Its scheduled delivery date to the Navy is December 1995.

Ships are launched into the Kennebec River at slack tide, sliding down the ways in a cradle of greased wood blocks. The method is centuries old, and has not been changed much since BIW started launching ships in the 19th century.

The launch is accomplished by roughly 200 people who drive wedges between the hull and the superstructure which supports it, shifting the weight of the 8,300-ton destroyer onto the launching cradle. From there a single trigger is released, which allows the ship to slip backwards down the ways.

The launching ceremony is open to the public.